Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe
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A bold new accounting of the great social and political upheavals that enveloped Europe between 1914 and 1945—from the Russian Revolution through the Second World War.In Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, acclaimed historian Robert Gellately focuses on the dominant powers of the time, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but also analyzes the catastrophe of those years in an effort to uncover its political and ideological nature. Arguing that the tragedies endured by Europe were inextricably linked through the dictatorships of Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, Gellately explains how the pursuit of their “utopian” ideals turned into dystopian nightmares. Dismantling the myth of Lenin as a relatively benevolent precursor to Hitler and Stalin and contrasting the divergent ways that Hitler and Stalin achieved their calamitous goals, Gellately creates in Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler a vital analysis of a critical period in modern history. The Washington Post - Simon Sebag Montefiore "The image of Lenin that emerges from the pages of this book, even the mere mention of him in the title alongside Stalin and Hitler," writes Robert Gellately in the introduction to his new study of the epoch of the great slaughterhouse in the 20th century, "will disturb some people." The author, a distinguished academic, adds that "a good friend of mine…said the very thought of putting Lenin next to Stalin and Hitler in the book's title would be enough to make her Russian grandmother turn in her grave." But let that Russian grandmother turn: It's time to rip up the accepted versions of this terrible period and analyze it on the evidence that we now have. Gellately has done just that in a book that is both sensible and sophisticated, scholarly and very readable.
Abbreviations and Glossary xiNote on Russian Spelling and Dates xvMaps xviIntroduction 3Lenin's Communist DictatorshipThe First World War and the Russian Revolution 21On the Way to Communist Dictatorship 41Civil Wars in the Soviet Union 62The Rise of German National SocialismNazism and the Threat of Bolshevism 81First Nazi Attempt to Seize Power 102Hitler Starts Over 117Stalin Triumphs over Political RivalsBattle for Communist Utopia 131Lenin's Passing, Stalin's Victory 141Stalin's New Initiatives 160Stalin Solidifies His Grip 173Germans Make a Pact with HitlerNazi Party as Social Movement 185Nazism Exploits Economic Distress 198"All Power" for Hitler 211Stalin's Reign of TerrorFight Against the Countryside 227Terror as Political Practice 240"Mass Operations" 253"Cleansing" the Soviet Elite 267Hitler's War Against DemocracyWinning Over the Nation 285Dictatorship by Consent 298Persecution of the Jews in the PrewarYears 315"Cleansing" the German Body Politic 331Stalin and Hitler: Into the Social CatastropheRival Visions of World Conquest 345German Racial Persecution Begins in Poland 360Hitler and Western Europe 375The Soviet Response 384The War Spreads 397Hitler's War on "Jewish Bolshevism"War of Extermination as Nazi Crusade 413War Against the Communists: Operation Barbarossa 429War Against the Jews: Death Squads in the East 441The "Final Solution" and Death Camps 452Hitler's Defeat and Stalin's AgendaGreatest Crisis in Stalin's Career 471Between Surrender and Defiance 482Soviets Hold On, Hitler Grows Vicious 498Ethnic Cleansing in Wartime Soviet Union 511Final StruggleFrom Stalingrad to Berlin 525Stalin Takes the Upper Hand 543End of the Third Reich 560Epilogue 579Notes 595Acknowledgments 671Index 673Photographic Credits 697
